Prosecutors want judge to toss ex-Coast mayor’s motion

GULFPORT — The U.S. Attorney’s Office is asking that a federal judge dismiss former Gulfport Mayor Brent Warr’s motion to vacate his guilty plea to theft of FEMA funds.

Prosecutors say Warr agreed not to seek post-conviction relief when he pleaded guilty three years ago to stealing $9,958 in FEMA relief funds after Hurricane Katrina.

The Sun Herald reports the government contends Warr and his wife, Laura, were given the money because they falsely claimed their family lived in a house on Beach Drive that Brent Warr was renovating.

Brent Warr, who had been mayor only a couple of months when Katrina hit, was staying at the house and doing most of the renovation work, but his family had not moved in.